Church of Mary Most Holy of the Bridge

The Church of Maria Santissima del Ponte is the seat of the first parish in the municipality of Policoro, and was built in the 1950s during the agrarian reform that affected the entire Metapontino Lucano area. Its architecture is typical of churches built in other rural villages of the time. The church was built together with the original village of Policoro and features a large central rose window and a bell tower at the back.Between 2019 and 2020, the church underwent renovation work, during which a mosaic was made behind the crucifix depicting the resurrection, while under the cross is an arch that recalls the arcades of the square and the original statue of the Madonna del Ponte.Inside the church is the very old 13th-14th century medieval wooden statue of the Madonna and Child, which was once kept in the small rural church adjacent to the baronial castle. The church has a single nave with a reinforced concrete supporting structure and features a presbytery area with a semicircular apse.On the façade, on either side of the rose window, are two statues of St. Doctors Cosmas and Damian, copies, while the original statues are in the small castle church.The patronal feast of Our Lady of the Bridge is celebrated in this church every third Sunday in May.